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The LDS church has recently put up a new facebook trend #ItWasHer for this upcoming Mother’s Day. Here is my little spur-of-the-moment tribute to my one & only, MOM 🙂

She taught us about family. The ones that have been here before us, who are here & who will be. The importance of understanding & loving them all.
It was mom who loved singing in storms & fighting fires.
She served with everything she had.
She sacrificed, loved & cried.
She soothed.
She read story books, scriptures, & told stories from her heart.
It was mom who danced with us, at ice cream on Fridays with us.
It was mom who warned us of what would happen when dad came home.
She is the one who shared her passion of reading. She passed that legacy to her children.
She never bought Halloween costumes.
We caught toads.
Counted train cars as it went by.
Walked barefoot.
Washed our hair in the rain.
It was mom who stood for what was right & showed us the meaning of integrity.
She taught us that there is no place like home. And home is where you make it.
We created cities of boxes. Traveled the world in our back yard.
She is an example of covenant making & covenant keeping.
She taught us to choose the right. … And when in a Chinese restaurant, chooses the Rice!
It was mom who dreamed big & said we can do ANYTHING if we wanted to.
It was mom who loved people & animals. She showed compassion & mercy.
Our friends came to her. The door was always open. She was their mom too.
She is my mom, forever.

I thought these two went perfectly together! When we work together as a family, with God, we are unstoppable! The world is ours to conquer!

What I wonder is, how do I become a better sister for my younger siblings? What do we need to do to be an unstoppable family?

The sons of Mosiah in the Book of Mormon were strong individuals, but with the Lord, they were able to come together to bring to pass much righteousness (D&C 58:27). They give a wonderful example of suggestions. I took this from a talk by Daniel K. Judd… it’s a really good one!

Seek to have the Spirit in the home, by wholesome recreation & language

Have a weekly Family Home Evening, invite even the youngest to teach

These things have helped my family become closer together, stronger & unstoppable. Doesn’t mean bad things don’t happen, they are just easier to get through together. And I know that is true because I’ve lived it!

I know, I just posted something semi-similar. But really, I would be doing you an injustice if I did not share how incredible young men can be!

“There was something just in the air that you could feel that said, ‘Yeah, this is what can happen when you treat people the way that they need to be treated.'” Tim Johnson (who created the video)

When I watched this, I thought of how powerful words are to us & that each word has a specific meaning, an emotion, a memory attached to it. The words we use are expressions of our truest desires & feelings. We have the power to use words to change lives. My mom has a very old dictionary that is about 7,000 pages long. There are so many incredible words in the English language that we can be using to bring smiles to people’s faces! I hope that this can help inspire you with ideas of how to uplift your family & everybody else with uplifting words!

“The tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth!”(James 3:5)

” ‘Love one another; as I have loved you’ (John 13:34). On this simple phrase hangs the success of every marriage and family. In the light of Christ’s love we see our family’s divine potential. We love them with all our heart, soul, and mind. And as we do, our ordinary family is transformed into an extraordinary one.” – lds.org

This is a simple little story about the most darling 2yr old girl in the WORLD! (yes, I am slightly biased. She is my sister)

Kimi didn’t really talk much before I left on my mission. She would use ASL to communicate mostly. We had a lot of fun times going on walks, watching the train go by & painting. On one particularly sunny day, we were on the front porch. I was drawing clouds & she was colouring them in. Nothing else was going on, we were just enjoying the day together. At one point Kimi sat back, looked up at the sky & signed happy in ASL as she sighed. Then quietly she spoke the word, “Happy.” with a smile.

How often are those small moments over looked? It’s easy to recognize hard times we have, but we are also given moments of peace & happiness. I believe children are given to us so we can remember & reflect on what is most precious & simple.

Kimi

“If we have a heart to learn and a willingness to follow the example of children, their divine attributes can hold a key to unlocking our own spiritual growth.” JEAN A. STEVENS

Last night, Sebastian and I were up late at my moms house. He was sitting on a bar stool across from me eating a bagel with peanut butter on it and staring at me intently with a slight grin on his face. I could tell he was a little loopy from staying up past his bed time. I asked him why he kept looking at me that way and he stays silent, chewing, grinning, and staring. Finally, after a few minutes have passed, his eyes get huge as if something great has just been revealed to him. He throws his little hands on the table and exclaims towards me “YOU’RE BEAUTIFUL!!!!!”.

Why Hello! I'm a missionary for the LDS church in Northern Florida! I love my family & all the wild times we have together. I love art, food & music. And I really love this church, which is all about families!